Quantum crystallography (QCr) is a branch of crystallography aimed at obtaining the complete quantum mechanics of a crystal given its X-ray scattering data. The fundamental value of obtaining an electron density matrix that is N-representable is that it ensures consistency with an underlying properly antisymmetrized wavefunction, a requirement of quantum mechanical validity. However, X-ray crystallography has progressed in an impressive way for decades based only upon the electron density obtained from the X-ray scattering data without the imposition of the mathematical structure of quantum mechanics. Therefore, one may perhaps ask regarding N-representability “why bother?” It is the purpose of this article to answer such a question by succinctly describing the advantage that is opened by QCr.
Exploiting the full quantum crystallography